The Story of Lothaire Amell
by edgeworth369
Summary: Joining the Grey Wardens was a stepping stone towards a larger agenda for the ambitious Amell. He anticipated hardship in an uphill battle for the betterment of mages but never did he expect to find himself falling in love along the way.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age: Origins.**

I finished my first playthrough of DA:O and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed role-playing in this game. I would like to share my this one-shot about the story I went with in my mind while role-playing as a male mage warden.

**"The Story of Lothaire Amell"**

Having lived most of his life in the tower, he displays a soft spoken demeanor which belies his burning hatred against Templars after seeing friends turned tranquil. Childhood memories were vague at best to him but one memory stood out to him as he recalled a woman who bore features similar to his own, cursing him for his magic.

Coming to the tower, his talent with commanding the elements garnered much interest and caught the eye of Irving who became a parental figure to him. The First Enchanter took him under his wing as his prized pupil. Under Irving's tutelage, Lothaire's powers grew as he excelled in elemental and entropy magic. He also learned a lot on 'diplomacy' from Irving as the older mage often had to contend with Greagoir and learning about the fine roundabouts on Chantry rules on mages. Nevertheless, he never shared the older mage's views on magic as a potential hazard.

Lothaire had once been a smiling carefree child but as he grew older, he saw friends disappearing never to return or to reappear but completely changed. Slowly, he became an introvert who barely connected with anyone beyond the professional level. He spent his time perusing books and learning numerous spells especially restricted ones which he gained access to as the First Enchanter's protégé. He developed a lone-wolf attitude that bordered on a frigid personality as he cared less and less for others and more on his own advancement.

The only person he could be described as actually caring for was Irving. He cared enough to report Jowan's plans to escape since he did not wish the old mage in any sort of trouble despite a side of him wishing Jowan to succeed. As expected, the plan failed but Jowan's use of blood magic enabled him to escape albeit without his beloved. Despite earning the ire of Greagoir, the incident proved to be a boon for Lothaire as he was offered a place among the famed Grey Wardens. He saw an opportunity to leave the tower and be able to roam the lands freely to search for a way to improve the lives of mages. Barely out of his teens, the young Amell ventured to reshape the world.

After learning about the price wardens pay for bearing the taint, he was nonplussed by it as he chalked it up as another challenge since he was already at risk of possession as a mage. He figured the chances of becoming a tainted abomination were minimal as long as he stayed away from blood magic and similarly-natured arcanum.

Ostagar became the proving grounds for a mage fresh out of apprenticeship as he torched, shocked, froze and pulverized his enemies with ease. The rush he felt in battle and feelings of empowerment came to him as he saw actualized his potential. Nevertheless, he was quickly humbled at the Tower of Ishal as it was overrun by darkspawn. The incident burned his pride but forged a stronger resolve to improve.

Thrust into the world with barely any cognition of what a Grey Warden is in reality, he travelled Ferelden in his bid to gather allies and raise an army. Having spent most of his time keeping to himself, it was rather a bit of a surprise to him on how he managed to collect companions.

Lothaire tolerated Alistair as he disliked the man partly for his Templar background and partly for his indecisiveness which led to his filling the role of leader when the other was the more senior warden. He seemed like a bumbling fool as Morrigan had often called him but he was handy with a blade and was useful in keeping enemies at bay as he and Morrigan prepared their spells.

One of the early joiners was a red-headed Chantry sister of all things. He held a certain dislike for people with Andrastian inclinations as he perceived them misguided. She proved to be a capable fighter, a sharp shot and skilled with the blade thus he tolerated her despite her nightly espousals of the Chant of Light. Nevertheless, she intrigued him in her claims of religiosity while harbouring a sort of darkness in her that she tried to hide behind smiles. A lost soul was what he regarded her as she seemed to cling to a sense of purpose in him and his quest a drowning person would grasp at anything to keep afloat. And so he thought he was doing her a favour when he encouraged her to welcome her darkness borne from her past as a bard after the incident with her mentor.

The next to join was the stoic Sten. The qunari was a welcome addition to the party. An economy with words, immense strength and skill with the blade characterized the man as he moved with a sense of purpose. Finding the blade he had lost only intensified that as he was made whole once more. Lothaire admired the Sten's discipline in silently and efficiently in accomplishing tasks despite his wariness over the qunari's belief that mages should be collared.

The next addition to the crew was a promiscuous self-proclaimed reforming elven assassin after a failed attempt to kill the wardens. Despite common sense telling him that he should do away with Zevran, Lothaire opted to spare him as he considered the elf's promise of loyalty. Nevertheless, he was sure that he could finish off the elf should he betray him with relative ease as his powers continued to grow.

Another joiner was an avian-hating golem who was quite transparent in its dislike for mages. Despite the additional muscle and rock the party now possessed, it gave no amount comfort to Lothaire as he was mostly surrounded by those who were wary of magic. The golem though seemed to have gained a measure of respect for him after the events in Caridin's Thaig.

His patience was further tested as he recruited a lewd drunken dwarf. The only redeeming trait the dwarf had was that he was a berserker on the battlefield, moving down enemies with his axe with wanton ease. The dwarf's familiarity with the battlefield seemed to compensate his lack of sobriety as they dispatched creatures.

Orzammar's power struggle ended in favour of Bhelen after the Warden threw his support behind him. Bhelen was more preferable than Harrowmont for Lothaire as he sought to gain backing from dwarves who will not shy from the surface. Further sleuthing also allowed Lothaire to amass evidences of Bhelen's backhanded dealings that made for blackmail material should the need arise. Harrowmont was too strait-laced and too embroiled in the past that made him a less likely ally for future purposes.

In addition to crowning a new dwarven king, Lothaire succeeded in locating the Anvil of the Void. Despite its obvious advantages in creating a golem army against the Blight, he opted to destroy the Anvil of the Void for fear of dwarves gaining too much power and diminish the significance of Wardens to dwarves should they find themselves better-off with golems while being led by an ambitious king. He never voiced this as he opted instead to voice reasoning similar to Caridin's instead.

The next part of their adventure led them to the Brescilian Forest in search of the Dalish. It was supposed to be a quick dealing but apparently the curse of lycanthropy plagued the elves. He opted to lift the curse as he figured supporting the Dalish might entice better relationship-building with their kin in the Alienage since it is more likely to gain allies in people who did not view you as slayers of their kind. He was not without sympathy however as he had always thought of the similarity in the plight of mages and elves as pariahs in Ferelden society.

The last to join was an old mage from the Circle who excelled in healing. She came to their party after seeking the Circle's aid for the troubles in Redcliffe. Despite being adept mana-wielders, Morrigan and his talents were more geared towards debilitating and destroying. Wynne contributed much in patching up the rest of party when their melee skirmishes earned them injuries. Albeit having the same origins, Lothaire disliked Wynne for her overly parental style in his dealings with her. Granted that he was the youngest in the group, he did not appreciate her coddling him and her disapproval over his relationship with Morrigan.

Despite the challenges, Lothaire found a measure of solace in the Witch of the Wilds. Affection did not come easily for a man used to isolation. He shared Morrigan's disdain for sentimentality as they both favored a clinical approach of brutal practicality. Reluctant at first, the pair eventually came to terms with having feelings for each other. Their relationship further deepened especially after dealing with Flemeth. They shared stolen moments of tenderness in which they revealed, whether intentionally or not, their vulnerabilities to each other.

Such was the party assembled as the warden travelled Ferelden. Aloof and distant at first, Lothaire eventually learned the values of camaraderie as the group toiled towards the same goal. They had shed blood, sweat and some tears to develop a bond of trust. He knew he was not without faults himself and so he opted to adopt a mostly 'live and let live' approach towards his companions. He slowly warmed up to them after helping them conclude their personal quests which he claimed to have done for his own amusement but deep down he had come to care for them one way or another.

Finding the Ashes of Andraste really threw him into a loop especially when it actually cured Arl Eamon's sickness which magic could not even help in. He was skeptical of the Chantry's teachings but now he believed in part about the Maker. He still resented the part about its teachings on mages though and opted to just believe in part. History was fluid and the true meaning of past events may have been misconstrued to stand with modern moral views. He had read enough history books to see inconsistencies and multiple perspectives to know that the Chantry's scripture was highly likely not exempt from such. Interacting with the ghosts in the Gauntlet also fortified this line of thinking.

Traveling throughout Ferelden gave him an idea of the power-plays in the nation and an idea on how to maneuver it towards his advantage. He still had not forgotten his other goal of improving the lives of mages by freeing them from the Chantry but his priority was to slay the Archdemon. These goals became trade-offs for one another no longer given his limited time and resources as the events in Redcliffe at the eve of battle came to pass.

He had just come out of the meeting with Riordan and Loghain. Alistair had been petulant about sparing Loghain and had excused himself from the order, stating he could not bear to call the man his brother. Instead of improving Ferelden's chances of survival against the Blight and standing with him against the final enemy, it incensed Lothaire to no end that Alistair would leave but had the gall to still lay claim to the throne. Therin line be damned, was he really incapable of seeing that Loghain could be used and later be disposed of? He was glad he chose to be pragmatic in sparing Loghain especially now that Riordan had revealed the true nature of why Grey Wardens were essential to ending Blights Dark thoughts left him as he saw Morrigan in his room that night.

The conversation they had was most enlightening as Lothaire saw an opportunity to erode the Chantry's monopoly of all things 'divine'. He agreed with Morrigan in her reasoning that there are things worth preserving. In conceiving the child to be a vessel for an Old God, things just might turn out for the better for mages if the world saw another true religion that could rise and challenge the Chantry. All things said and done, the institution was hardly of any help especially in Blights as they impeded efforts to recruit mages in aiding the fight. Templars could hardly be useful as they were not truly soldiers since they were simply more of lyrium-using guards. Tactically speaking, a single mage was worth more in terms of firepower in the battlefield than a platoon of Templars. Also, the Chantry was discriminatory especially against elves as they perceived them to be 'heathens to be saved'.

He agreed to Morrigan's ritual but it broke his heart as well for the only person he ever truly loved would be leaving. He tried to prod her into telling him her plans but she said it would be better if he did not know. He asked her if he could go with her but she refused. Left without a choice as she gave him an ultimatum, he opted to lay with her but vowed to himself that he will find her again.

The battle atop Fort Drakon was the hardest one he had ever fought as swarms of darkspawn kept coming while the Archdemon spread its toxic breath and swiped at the fighters. When it came down to dealing the last blow, Loghain volunteered himself to do the deed. Lothaire told no one of the ritual but allowed Loghain to deal the killing strike which in effect would help redeem the disgraced warrior in the eyes of Fereldans should he survive. He would rather err in the side of caution if Morrigan's ritual was faulty and so he gave this opportunity to Loghain with the thought that he might also gain favor of the old dog if he survived. Loghain's know-how on politics and with Anora as queen, it was a feasible plus for him especially if Alistair remained disagreeable.

He could have persuaded Anora to have Alistair executed or banished but he had come to consider the other as friend of sorts. He could not bring himself to stab the man in the back if his fault was being too short-sighted. Lothaire himself disliked Loghain but improving the Ferelden's chances of survival took precedence over righteous anger that warranted execution. Eventually, Lothaire hoped that Alistair would come around.

When asked for a boon for his efforts in stopping the Blight, well…let's just say Lothaire was in an advantageous position to improve the standing of mages. Ferelden saw in him the potential of mages for good as he stood as their avatar aside from being beholden to him. He would do everything to make life better for mages as he was mostly motivated by one mage in particular who carried his child. He knew not when and if he will see them again. He would eventually try to seek them out but for now, he will reshape Ferelden to ensure that there is at least a place in Thedas that will not condemn mages when his child came into the world.

A/N For those who are curious, here is part of the link to an image of Lothaire. Go to www . dragonagenexus . mods Images / 30422 (remove spaces)

Hope you enjoyed it. :) Thank you.


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